Financial Aid Information

Welcome Sagehen!

Congratulations on your recent admission to Pitzer College. We look forward to meeting you on campus! We understand that financial aid is important for many students to enroll and successfully graduate from Pitzer College, but the process can be complicated the first time through. The Financial Aid staff is available to assist you. Consider our office a resource to help you understand your financial aid award, sources of funding, and any requirements that need to be completed to receive your financial aid funding. Please contact our office by email or call us at 909.621.8208 if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Robin Thompson
Director of Financial Aid

Next Steps

1. All dependent students must send a signed copy of their parents’ 2015 Federal Tax Return, including all schedules and W-2 forms to IDOC.

If your parents file a foreign tax return, please send a translated copy of the foreign tax return and wage statement(s) to IDOC.

Parents who are not required to file a tax return must submit a Statement of Nonfiling in place of the tax return, along with any W-2 forms.

Students whose parents are divorced, separated or file tax returns separately must provide Federal tax returns and W-2 forms for both the custodial and noncustodial parent to IDOC.

2. All students must send a signed copy of their 2015 Federal Tax Return, including all schedules and W-2 forms to IDOC. Students who do not file a tax return must submit a Statement of Nonfiling in place of the tax return, along with any W-2 forms.

Once the financial aid office has received all of the required documents, your final Financial Aid Award will be mailed to your permanent home address in November. Included with your award letter will be a copy of our current Financial Aid Information Guide, which outlines policies and procedures for financial aid at Pitzer College. In addition, each student will receive instructions to complete the loan application materials for the Federal Direct Loan or Federal Perkins Loan.

Merit Scholarships

Pitzer College awards two merit scholarships to admitted first year students: the Trustee Community Scholarship and the Academic Achievement Scholarship. Both of these scholarships are awarded without consideration to financial need, and are made by the Admission staff at the time of admission. All students who apply for admission are considered for the merit scholarships. Students who are awarded a merit scholarship are notified at the time of admission, and all decisions are final. Unfortunately, we cannot consider appeals for merit scholarships after a student has been admitted.

The Trustee Community Scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate academic excellence combined with extraordinary community service, leadership or talent. The Trustee Community Scholarship is an annual award of $5,000 and is renewable for 4 years assuming the student continues to be enrolled at least half time (2 courses) and continues to make satisfactory academic progress.

The Academic Achievement Scholarship is awarded to students based on their excellent academic performance in high school. The Academic Achievement Scholarship is a one-time award of $2,000 and is not renewable for subsequent years.

Additional Funding

There are several options for families who need help in meeting their family contribution. Pitzer College offers a payment plan to help families pay all or part of their educational expenses in equal monthly installments.

The Federal Direct PLUS Loan program offers parents the opportunity to borrow as much as the full cost of attendance minus any financial aid. The Federal Direct PLUS loan interest rate is currently 6.31%. More information about the Federal Direct PLUS Loan can be found on our website.

Appealing a Financial Aid Award Letter

The Financial Aid staff reviews every student’s application for financial aid carefully prior to admission. Letters of special circumstance provided during the application process have been reviewed and taken into consideration when preparing the tentative financial aid award.

Any student may request a second review of their financial aid award letter, but successful appeals are based on new information that had not been previously provided to our office. Financial aid changes are based on the following:

Loss or reduction in parental employment and income

Recent separation or divorce of parents

Unexpected out of pocket medical expenses

Out of pocket expenses for elder parent care

Death of a parent

For changes resulting from income reduction, parents are requested to provide a letter of explanation and complete the Income and Expense Statement. For unexpected medical or elder care expenses, please provide a breakdown of expenses, along with receipts for the out-of-pocket family expenses. Parents should submit signed 2015 Federal Tax Returns and W-2 forms with the appeal in order for our office to complete a thorough review.

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